Spirotrich ciliate with ingested long diatom chain, Bering Sea

A second species of spirotrich ciliate which has ingested a very long diatom chain. The end of the diatom chain pokes out from the anterior end of the ciliate, likely due to cell shrinkage of the ciliate after fixation. A heterotrophic dinoflagellate cell is just below the ciliate. The large filament is probably a terrestrial plant fiber melted from sea ice. Sampled from the same ice edge diatom bloom in the Bering Sea as the other ciliate species, April 2008. Lugol fixed/light microscopy.